Introduction to OSHA

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Introduction to OSHA
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What is OSHA?

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• Responsible for worker safety and health
  protection

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Is there a need for OSHA?
Each year...

• Nearly 6,000 workplace fatalities
• 50,000 deaths from workplace-related illnesses
• 5.7 million non-fatal workplace injuries
• Injuries alone cost U.S. businesses over 125
  billion

Source - OSHA Publication 2056
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Has OSHA Made a Difference?
YES!
Since 1970 OSHA has

• Helped cut the work-related fatality rate in half
• Worked with employers and employees to reduce
  workplace injuries and illnesses by 40
• Virtually eliminated brown lung disease in the
  textile industry, and
• Reduced trenching and excavation fatalities by 35

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What does OSHA do?

• Encourages employers and employees to reduce
  workplace hazards and implement new or improve
  existing safety and health programs
• Develops and enforces mandatory job safety and
  health standards
• Maintains a reporting and recordkeeping system to
  monitor job-related injuries and illnesses
• Provides assistance, training and other support
  programs to help employers and workers

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Who is covered by the OSH Act?

• Most private sector employees
• Coverage is provided directly by federal OSHA or
  through an OSHA-approved state program
• Does not cover the self-employed or immediate
  members of farm families that do not employ
  outside workers

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OSHA Standards

• OSHA develops and enforces standards that
  employers must follow.
• Where OSHA does not have standards, employers
  are responsible for following the OSH Act's
  General Duty Clause.
• States with OSHA-approved programs must set
  standards at least as effective as federal
  standards.

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What does OSHA Require?

• Determine which standards apply to your workplace
• Follow the OSHA standards and requirements

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Recordkeeping and Reporting

• Employers of 11 or more employees must maintain
  records of occupational injuries and illnesses

• All employers must display the OSHA poster, and
  report to OSHA within 8 hours any accident that
  results in a fatality or in-patient
  hospitalization of 3 or more employees

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Recordkeeping Forms

• Maintained on a calendar year basis
• Summary of records for the previous year must be
  posted from February through April

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What are workers responsibilities?

• Read the OSHA poster
• Follow the employers safety and health rules and
  wear or use all required gear and equipment
• Follow safe work practices for your job, as
  directed by your employer
• Report hazardous conditions to a supervisor or
  safety committee
• Report hazardous conditions to OSHA, if employers
  do not fix them
• Cooperate with OSHA inspectors

(see OSHA Workers' web page for more information)
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What are workers rights?

• Identify and correct problems in their
  workplaces, working with their employers whenever
  possible
• Complain to OSHA about workplace conditions
  threatening their health or safety in person, by
  telephone, by fax, by mail or electronically
  through OSHAs web site
• Section 11(c) of the OSH Act gives workers the
  right to seek safe and healthful conditions on
  the job without being disciplined or fired

(see OSHA Workers' web page for more information)
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OSHA Workers' Page
www.osha.gov/as/opa/worker/index.html
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What are employers rights responsibilities?

• Employers must provide a safe and healthful
  workplace free of recognized hazards and follow
  the OSHA standards
• The OSH Act grants employers important rights,
  particularly during and after an OSHA inspection
• Employers must provide training, medical
  examinations and recordkeeping

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Competent Person in Construction

• A person who
• Knows the right standard,
• Can identify hazards in the operation, and
• Is designated by the employer, and has the
  authority to take appropriate actions.
• "Competent Person" is found in many standards.
• Some standards set specific requirements for
  the "competent person."

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Workplace Inspections

• Establishments covered by the OSH Act are
  subject to inspection by OSHA compliance safety
  and health officers (CSHO's)
• Most inspections are conducted without advance
  notice

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What Types of Hazards are Addressed in Standards?

• Electrical
• Cranes
• Falls
• Excavation

• Scaffolding
• Machines
• Stairways Ladders
• Chemical

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Employer may Qualify for "Focused Inspection"

• Has to meet certain conditions
• Inspector will "focus" on these four hazard
  areas
• Falls
• Struck by
• Caught in/between
• Electrical

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Inspection Process

• CSHO displays official credentials
• Opening conference
• Walk-around inspection
• Closing conference

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Conducting the Walkaround Inspection

• CSHO and accompanying representatives (employer
  and employee) inspect the establishment for
  potentially hazardous working conditions
• CSHO discusses possible corrective actions with
  the employer
• CSHO may consult, at times privately, with
  employees

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What Happens After an OSHA Inspection?

• OSHA may or may not issue citations
• Citations inform employer and employees of the
  regulations and standards allegedly violated and
  of the proposed time for abatement
• Employer must post a copy of each citation at or
  near place where violation occurred, for 3 days
  or until violation is corrected, whichever is
  longer

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Sources of Assistance

• OSHA web site (www.osha.gov)
• Consultation assistance
• Federal and State area offices
• Speakers, publications, a/v aids, technical
  advice
• Training and education
• OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and the OTI
  Education Centers
• OSHA Outreach Training Program
• OSHA Office of State Programs
• Voluntary Protection Programs

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OSHA Web Site(www.osha.gov)

• About OSHA (events, whats new . . .)
• Compliance Assistance (regulations, directives,
  consultation, eTools, training . . .)
• Cooperative Programs (VPP, partnerships )
• News Room (publications, news releases . . .)
• Safety / Health Topics (technical links to
  various topics)
• Statistics (Inspection data, BLS survey link ...)

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Where to Get OSHA Standards

• Federal Register in public libraries or at GPO
  web site
• CD-ROM subscription through U.S. Government
  Printing Office (GPO)
• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in public
  libraries and through GPO
• OSHA web site - OSHA standards, interpretations,
  directives (www.osha.gov)

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Consultation Assistance

• Provided at no cost
• Developed for smaller employers with more
  hazardous operations
• Delivered by state government agencies or
  universities employing professional safety and
  health consultants
• No penalties are proposed or citations issued
• Possible violations of OSHA standards are not
  reported to OSHA enforcement staff unless
  employer fails to eliminate or control any
  serious hazard or imminent danger

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OSHA Emergency Hot-Line1-800-321-OSHA

• Report workplace safety or health fatalities or
  the hospitalization of 3 or more employees
• Report a workplace hazard
• File a complaint about a workplace hazard
• Request information on OSHA
• Request an OSHA publication

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Summary

• OSHA helps save lives and prevent injuries
• OSHA balances a cooperative approach with
  traditional enforcement
• OSHA standards are the enforceable requirements
  for worker safety and health
• Inspections are OSHAs way to ensure compliance
• OSHA offers various means of assistance